Snare EQ Tips (EVERYONE, not just Toontrack)

[olliepudge]

Hi All,

I’m looking for some tips/ideas on how to properly EQ a snare drum. First of all, I’m not new to this. I’ve been playing drums and recording them for years, but I’m not an expert. I’m just interested in what my fellow drummers out there do with this. I like a snare that has a deep sound, but also has that crack to it. I know that isn’t much to give you to work with, so I guess the best example of the snare sound I’m looking for would be Abe Cunningham’s from the Deftones. Just an example. I’d love some feedback on this. Thanks!

Topic

[andrushkiwt]

@olliepudge said:
Hi All,

I’m looking for some tips/ideas on how to properly EQ a snare drum. First of all, I’m not new to this. I’ve been playing drums and recording them for years, but I’m not an expert. I’m just interested in what my fellow drummers out there do with this. I like a snare that has a deep sound, but also has that crack to it. I know that isn’t much to give you to work with, so I guess the best example of the snare sound I’m looking for would be Abe Cunningham’s from the Deftones. Just an example. I’d love some feedback on this. Thanks!  

You’d be better off selecting a snare that is as close to what you want from the beginning. EQ’ing something to death is not going to give a pleasant sound – you can’t really take a different sounding snare, apply EQ, then have it sound like the snare you want. It will sound like a different snare, sure, but probably not what you’re looking for. The best way to get a snare sound is to use that snare.

That being said, there is no one single way to EQ a snare. If it is missing lows, you can add some, if it has too much of it, you can take it out.

Still, finding out which snare he uses, then searching out SD’s massive libraries and options available, will give you the best possible result.

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt

[olliepudge]

@andrushkiwt said:

You’d be better off selecting a snare that is as close to what you want from the beginning. EQ’ing something to death is not going to give a pleasant sound – you can’t really take a different sounding snare, apply EQ, then have it sound like the snare you want. It will sound like a different snare, sure, but probably not what you’re looking for. The best way to get a snare sound is to use that snare.

That being said, there is no one single way to EQ a snare. If it is missing lows, you can add some, if it has too much of it, you can take it out.

Still, finding out which snare he uses, then searching out SD’s massive libraries and options available, will give you the best possible result.  

Thanks for the reply. Yes, of course you want to start off with a snare that is close to the sound you are looking for. That being said, even the best sounding snares need to be mixed (EQ, compression, etc.). I’m interested in how other drummers go about doing this. Just curious. That’s what these forums are all about right? We all learn from each other. There’s ALWAYS something someone else does that you might not know about.

[Henrik]

One thing I tend to do is sweep the frequencies with a bell filter, with steep Q value (10) and high gain (15 db), to find the frequency where the “ping” sound is (normally between 200 and 1000 hz). When I have found the frequency (you’ll know – it sounds horrible ), I turn the bell filter into a notch filter (the button left of “bell”) to completely remove it. Sometimes it sounds better with the “ping”, sometimes without…

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

[andrushkiwt]

@olliepudge said:We all learn from each other. There’s ALWAYS something someone else does that you might not know about.  

Sure, but that’s not what you’re asking. You’re asking how to get a specific sound. The best advice, then, would be to use that snare whose sound you’re trying to obtain.

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt

[sakendrick]

I think this was a really good question from the original poster. You can’t always find the snare used in original recordings. I’m similarly looking for a deep snare but with a strong crack, in fact very specifically, Phil Rhodes from Hey Jealous, by the Gin Blossoms… unfortunately I’ve read 3 different things about what he used, from DW all around, to a Noble & Cooley, to a Gretsch kit that happened be in Ardent studios where they recorded (no idea if it was a Gretsch snare with the kit). And I’ve scoured the over 50 snares I have between the kicks & snares pack, and my half dozen or so other kit packs, nothing really sounds like it. The reason is likely because the EQ and what I think is a gated reverb on the original really add to the tone. I can get pretty close with a couple of the solid maple snares once I too add gated reverb and play some with EQ but not that nice deep sound. I even tuned the pitch down 1 – 1.5 but just not sounding like it. I actually think what’s happening is the deep tones in the drums by themselves gets lost within the rest of the mix, so I may need to look at carving some space out some how.

Any advice welcome

[Author]

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